Russian court blocks Crimean Tatar political prisoners from ‘dragging out the trial’ by challenging fake prosecution witness
The presiding judge in Russia’s political trial of six Crimean Tatar civic activists dropped all pretence on 2 December, actively preventing the defendants from proving that a key ‘secret witness’ was lying. This is by no means the first time that Russian ‘judges’ have abetted the prosecution, but ‘judge’ Roman Saprunov;s refusal to allow the men their fundamental rights was still quite extraordinarily brazen.
Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov is representing Abdulmedzhit Seitumerov (b. 1999, the youngest of the six Crimean Tatar political prisoners and the third and last son of renowned Crimean Tatar historian Shukri Seitumerov to have been targeted by Russia’s FSB. Kurbedinov has long pointed to glaring cases where so-called ‘anonymous witnesses’ are evidently agents for Russia’s FSB, but even he was outraged by Saprunov’s behaviour.
Although no proof is ever provided that the alleged witnesses have anything to fear from testifying openly, judges at the Southern District Military Court in Rostov invariably allow their identity to be concealed and their voices distorted. In the vast majority of cases, these supposed witnesses for the prosecution give ‘testimony’ which seems word-for-word taken from the indictment. While claiming to have regularly met with the defendants, they are usually unable to answer even the simplest questions about the men themselves, or the places where the meetings allegedly too place. Were these genuine trials, such ‘testimony’ would be subjected to close scrutiny and almost certainly dismissed as evidently flawed. Instead, it is the lie that the judges appear to be protecting by preventing defendants from asking questions which prove that the testimony is fabricated.
On 2 December, Saprunov was openly impatient and claimed that the defendants were trying to cross-examine the ‘secret witness’ known as ‘Isa Ismailov’ in order to “drag out the proceedings.” He constantly disallowed questions, with Seitumerov interrupted each time after a word or two. After consulting on the spot with the other two ‘judges’, Saprunov then stated that, since the defence were, purportedly, repeating or asking irrelevant questions, or were asking what they knew the witness could not answer, the questioning of Ismailov was now over.
Kurbedinov condemned such a brazen violation of the defendants’ right of defence. It is vital, he stressed, that they question the so-called ‘secret witnesses’ and demonstrate that they are lying, and the judge’s behaviour once again proves the court’s unconcealed bias. The defence will be lodging the relevant complaints against Saprunov’s actions. The complaints will be ignored, of course, as have been clear statements, including from the UN Secretary General and an unequivocal judgment from the European Court of Human Rights regarding Russia’s use of fake secret witnesses for political persecution.
Russia’s use of anonymous ‘witnesses’ has been condemned by the UN Secretary General and is in further breach of a binding European Court of Human Rights judgement from 2020.
All six Crimean Tatars - Ruslan Asanov (b. 1975); Remzi Nimetulayev (b. 1985); Seidamet Mustafayev (b. 1995); Abdulmedzhit Seitumerov (b. 1999); Ametkhan Umerov (b. 1986) and Eldar Yakubov (b. 1980) – would have been known to Russia’s FSB for their peaceful civic activism, in five cases (except that of 23-year-old Seitumerov) for the Crimean Solidarity human rights movement. Some had already faced administrative prosecution for as little as trying to attend supposedly open court hearings to show solidarity with the political prisoners on trial.
The men were all seized after armed ‘searches’ in the early morning of 24 August 2023. These are searches in name alone, since the FSB prevent lawyers from being present and, standardly, plant and then pretend to find ‘prohibited religious literature’.
Such ‘prohibited literature’ is all that the armed officers, brandishing machine guns, even pretend to be looking for, despite the use of ‘terrorism’ charges against all of the men. Such charges are based solely on a flawed and secretive Russian supreme court ruling from 2003 which labelled declared Hizb ut-Tahrir, a peaceful, if controversial, transnational Muslim organization ‘terrorist’. No explanation was provided as to why an organization not known to have committed any acts of terrorism either in Russia or elsewhere should be so branded. Hizb ut-Tahrir is legal in Ukraine and Russia is in violation of international law by applying any of its repressive legislation on occupied territory. These arrests, trials and horrific sentences would, in short, be illegal even if there was genuine evidence of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir. There is no evidence, with all such cases based on fake ‘expert assessments’ usually of illicitly taped and quite innocuous conversations; the testimony of anonymous ‘witnesses’ and on the planted ‘prohibited literature’. This is the fifth such ‘trial’ targeting civic activists and journalists from Bakhchysarai, and at least in all previous cases, there is evidence that the FSB have used the same two supposed ‘secret witnesses’. The identity of the two men is known, as are the reasons that both men have reason to fear the FSB and provide any ‘testimony’ demanded to avoid being sent back to their countries (to Latvia where Konstantin Tumarevich would face criminal charges, or to Uzbekistan in the case of Salakhutdin Nazrullayev).
All such fabricated evidence is then used to stitch up charges either of ‘organizing a Hizb ut-Tahrir group’ (under Article 205.5 § 1 of Russia’s criminal code) or of ‘having part in such an alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir group (under Article 205.5 § 2. Although, as mentioned, the armed ‘searches’ were only for ‘prohibited religious literature’, the men are also charged with ‘planning a violent uprising’ (Article 278). Ruslan Asanov is facing the more serious ‘organizing a Hizb ut-Tahrir group’ (Article 205.5 § 1), together with Article 278, and a sentence of 17-19 years. The other men are accused of ‘taking part’ in this entirely unproven ‘group’, and face sentences of around 12-14 years.
Saprunov has already taken part in previous ‘trials’. He demonstrated then, and did so in this case on 2 December, his willingness to issue politically motivated sentences as demanded by a repressive regime determined to crush peaceful dissent in occupied Crimea.
The next hearing is now on 16 December 2024.
Once again, please write to one or more of the men!
The letters tell them and Moscow that they are not forgotten and that Russia’s persecution and the fate of its victims are under scrutiny. Letters need to be in Russian, handwritten, and on ‘safe’ subjects. If that is a problem, use the sample letter below (copying it by hand), perhaps adding a picture or photo. Do add a return address so that the men can answer.
Sample letter
Добрый день,
Желаю Вам крепкого здоровья и надеюсь, Вы скоро вернетесь домой, к своим родным. Простите, что мало пишу – мне трудно писать по-русски, но мы все о Вас помним.
[Hi. I wish you good health and hope that you will soon be home, with your family. I’m sorry that this letter is short – it’s hard for me to write in Russian., but you are not forgotten. ]
Address (this can be written in Russian or English)
Ruslan Asanov
344022, РФ, г. Ростов-на-Дону, ул. Максима Горького, д. 219, ФКУ СИЗО-1 Асанову Руслану Ремзиевичу, 1975 г. р.
or in English
344022 Russian Federation, Rostov on the Don, 219 Maxim Gorky St, SIZO-1
Asanov, Ruslan Remzievich, b. 1975
Seidamet Mustafayev
344022, РФ, г. Ростов-на-Дону, ул. Максима Горького, д. 219, ФКУ СИЗО-1 Мустафаеву Сейдамету Энверовичу, 1995 г. р.
or in English
344022 Russian Federation, Rostov on the Don, 219 Maxim Gorky St, SIZO-1
Mustafayev, Seidamet Enverovich, b. 1985
Remzi Nimetulayev
344022, РФ, г. Ростов-на-Дону, ул. Максима Горького, д. 219, ФКУ СИЗО-1 Ниметулаеву Ремзи Синаверовичу, 1985 г. р. or in English
344022 Russian Federation, Rostov on the Don, 219 Maxim Gorky St, SIZO-1
Nimetulayev, Remzi Sinaverovich, b. 1985
Abdulmedzhit Seitumerov
344022, РФ, г. Ростов-на-Дону, ул. Максима Горького, д. 219, ФКУ СИЗО-1 Сейтумерову Абдулмеджиту Шукриевичу, 1999 г. р.
or in English
344022 Russian Federation, Rostov on the Don, 219 Maxim Gorky St, SIZO-1
Seitumerov, Abdulmedzhit Shukrievich, b. 1999
Ametkhan Umerov
344022, РФ, г. Ростов-на-Дону, ул. Максима Горького, д. 219, ФКУ СИЗО-1 Умерову Аметхану Айдеровичу, 1986 г. р.
or in English
344022 Russian Federation, Rostov on the Don, 219 Maxim Gorky St, SIZO-1
Umerov, Ametkhan Aiderovich, b. 1986
Eldar Yakubov
344022, РФ, г. Ростов-на-Дону, ул. Максима Горького, д. 219, ФКУ СИЗО-1 Якубову Эльдару Эскендеровичу, 1980 г. р.
or in English
344022 Russian Federation, Rostov on the Don, 219 Maxim Gorky St, SIZO-1
Yakubov, Eldar Eskenderovich, b. 1980